Legal claims defining the scope of protection. Each claim is shown in both the original legal language and a plain English translation.
1. A job executing system comprising: a job executing device, comprising a processor, that executes a requested job; and a plurality of service providing devices that provides a service processing function used for executing the requested job, wherein the job executing device includes: a job accepting unit that accepts a job execution request; an acquisition unit that, in response to a first determination that the service processing function used for executing the requested job corresponding to the job execution request is not available in the job execution device, acquires operation state information from each of the service providing devices, the operation state information including index data which represents service processing functions available in the corresponding service providing device and an operation state of the corresponding service providing device; a selection unit that: in response to the first determination and a second determination that the service processing function used for executing the requested job is available in at least one of the plurality of service providing devices, in a case where a load of one service providing device in which the service processing function used for executing the job is available exceeds a criterion for high-load determination, selects another service providing device which satisfies a criterion for low-load determination by referring to the acquired operation state information; and in response to the first determination and a third determination that the service processing function used for executing the requested job is not available in the plurality of service providing devices, selects a service providing device to which software enabling the service processing function is to be downloaded; and an instruction information transmitting unit that, in response to the first determination and the second determination, transmits performance instruction information to the service providing device selected by the selection unit, the performance instruction information used for instructing the selected service providing device to perform the corresponding service process, wherein each of the service providing devices includes: a service process performing unit that sets an environment in which the corresponding service process is performed and that performs the corresponding service process in a case where the performance instruction information is transmitted from the instruction information transmitting unit, wherein the instruction information transmitting unit transmits start-up instruction information to the service providing device selected by the selection unit, the start-up instruction information including information used for specifying the one service providing device in which the corresponding service processing function is available, and wherein the service process performing unit of the selected service providing device performs environment settings for performing the corresponding service process by downloading software from the one service providing device specified based on the information used for specifying the one service providing device which is included in the start-up instruction information.
A distributed job processing system allows an image forming device (like a printer) to offload processing tasks to multiple servers. When a job is submitted, the system checks if the image forming device has the required software ("service processing function"). If not, it queries available servers for their capabilities and current load. If a suitable server is overloaded, the system selects a less busy server that *does* have the required software. If *no* server has the software, the system picks one and downloads the software to it. The image forming device then instructs the chosen server to perform the task. The selected server downloads the necessary software components from the original server where the software is usually located before performing the service.
2. The job executing system according to claim 1 , wherein the service process performing unit deletes the software after performing the corresponding service process.
The job processing system described previously includes a feature where the server that temporarily performed the service deletes the downloaded software after completing the assigned job. This helps to maintain security and minimize disk space usage on the service providing device. After the job is complete, the server removes the service.
3. A job executing device comprising: a processor; a job accepting unit that accepts a job execution request; an acquisition unit that, in response to a first determination that a service processing function used for executing a job corresponding to the accepted job execution request is not available in the job execution device, acquires operation state information from each of service providing devices which provides service processing functions for executing the job, the operation state information including index data which represents service processing functions available in the corresponding service providing device and an operation state of the corresponding service providing device; a selection unit that: in response to the first determination and a second determination that the service processing function used for executing the job is available in at least one of the service providing devices, in a case where a load of one service providing device in which the service processing function used for executing the job is available exceeds a criterion for high-load determination, selects another service providing device which satisfies a criterion for low-load determination by referring to the acquired operation state information; and in response to the first determination and a third determination that the service processing function used for executing the job is not available in the service providing devices, selects a service providing device to which software enabling the service processing function is to be downloaded; and an instruction information transmitting unit that, in response to the first determination and the second determination, transmits performance instruction information to the service providing device selected by the selection unit, the performance instruction information used for instructing the selected service providing device to perform the corresponding service process, wherein the instruction information transmitting unit transmits start-up instruction information to the service providing device selected by the selection unit, the start-up instruction information including information used for specifying the one service providing device in which the corresponding service processing function is available, and wherein a service process performing unit of the selected service providing device performs environment settings for performing the corresponding service process by downloading software from the one service providing device specified based on the information used for specifying the one service providing device which is included in the start-up instruction information.
An image forming device can submit jobs to a distributed processing system to offload tasks. The image forming device checks if it already has the software ("service processing function") needed for the job. If not, it queries other servers for their capabilities and load. If a server that has the software is overloaded, the image forming device selects a less busy server. If *no* server has the required software, the device picks a server and downloads the software to it. Then, the image forming device instructs the chosen server to perform the task by downloading the environment settings from an existing server that holds the original service.
4. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a program that causes a computer to execute job execution, the job execution comprising: accepting a job execution request; acquiring, in response to a first determination that a service processing function used for executing a job corresponding to the accepted job execution request is not available in the job execution device, operation state information from each of service providing devices which provides service processing functions for executing the job when the accepted job is executed, the operation state information including index data which represents service processing functions available in the corresponding service providing device and an operation state of the corresponding service providing device; selecting: in response to the first determination and a second determination that the service processing function used for executing the job is available in at least one of the service providing devices, another service providing device which satisfies a criterion for low-load determination by referring to the acquired operation state information in a case where a load of one service providing device in which the service processing function used for executing the job is available exceeds a criterion for high-load determination; and in response to the first determination and a third determination that the service processing function used for executing the job is not available in the service providing devices, a service providing device to which software enabling the service processing function is to be downloaded; and transmitting, in response to the first determination and the second determination, performance instruction information to the selected service providing device, the performance instruction information used for instructing the selected service providing device to perform the corresponding service process, wherein start-up instruction information is transmitted to the selected service providing device, the start-up instruction information including information used for specifying the one service providing device in which the corresponding service processing function is available, and wherein the selected service providing device performs environment settings for performing the corresponding service process by downloading software from the one service providing device specified based on the information used for specifying the one service providing device which is included in the start-up instruction information.
A software program controls job execution in an image forming device (like a printer). When a job is received, the program determines if the device itself has the necessary processing software ("service processing function"). If the device lacks this software, the program queries available servers for their capabilities and load. If a server possessing the software is overloaded, the program selects a less busy server that *does* have the required software. If no server has the software, one is selected and the software can be downloaded to it. The program then instructs the selected server to perform the task, downloading software and setup from the server with the initial service.
Unknown
August 26, 2014
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